


Not Ever

by raspberryrey



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 21:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14554020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberryrey/pseuds/raspberryrey
Summary: Reflections on a relationship in 3 parts.





	Not Ever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



Mornings on the bridge were Hux’s favorite time of the day. Early morning, before the planet’s sun crested over the edge and bathed the Finalizer in light, if he were being specific. The bridge was a quiet hum, the only staff being the bare bones night crew, and everything was in perfect order. 

A soft rustle of robes would alert him to her presence. She rarely wore the sharp, clicking boots that other officers did, preferring either the soft slippers that Ren had given her when they’d stopped in Coruscant or the beaten version of shoe that he was loathe to even call a boot - dirty, worn things that she refused to get rid of. But regardless of what she wore, it was impossible for him to mistake her presence. The quiet, gentle comfort of it. Small and yet steady and , like the sands of her planet. 

“Report?”

“Steady,” he would say. “Quiet, as should be expected.” 

He’d bow his head, slightly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye without turning from the viewport. She still disliked it when they bowed to her, though he caught the present officers bowing their heads in her presence. As they should, he thought. She deserved nothing less.

She would turn slightly, looking up at his profile and trying to read his face for any sign of distress or worry. She would nod only when she was certain that he was telling her the whole truth - the gentle pressure at the edges of his mind would calm, like a soft summer breeze before it fell away and her concern turned into a small smile.

“I brought you a canteen,” she’d say, handing him a warm thermajug of caf with the perfect mix of milk to cream to sweetener. He would take it with a slight nod, before turning and leaving the bridge. In order to thank her properly, he would need privacy. If it were a good day, and she was unworried - well, she would follow, and he would sweep her into a quiet, invisible corner to kiss her until she was breathless and laughing. 

“My lady,” he’d grin, leaning down to nuzzle her neck, dropping kisses along her shoulder.

“You don’t have to call me that, you know,” she’d breathe, leaning up on her toes to kiss his nose.

“Oh, but I do. Your majesty.”

Her laugh would warm him for the rest of the day.

 

\--

 

Kylo’s favorite time of day was always the middle of the day - the brightness of whatever sun they happened to be orbiting helped keep the darkness at bay. In the light of day he could control things that seemed too large or impossible. In the light of day, he could see every nuance and detail of the world. 

In the middle of day, Rey glittered like a diamond.

He smiled to himself as he watched her training from the doorway, her lightsaber moving through the air effortlessly, her body shifting through each form like she’d been born to it. She was elegant, poised; she was perfect. She glistened, exertion making her skin reflect the lights of the ship 

“If you’re going to just stand there, at least come inside so the door can close.” 

“If you knew I was here, you could’ve just closed the door yourself.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” she asked, one eye cracking open just the tiniest bit to track him through the room as she finished her forms. “Spar with me?” 

“If you wish,” he said, picking up one of the practice sabers and twirling it in his hands. 

They were equal in this; sabers glancing off one another, parries met with thrusts and blocks in perfect sync; feet moving back and forth as they shifted from form to form. He had taught her well, and she brought her own to each match - taking him by surprise as often as he did her. She’d always been a quick study, and a dutiful student. Now that she was a master, she was teaching him to be the same.

Rey spun and her practice saber tapped his back - a fatal blow, had it been serious. The sparkle in her eye told him that she was in a good mood. Then again, if she weren’t, he was sure something as minor as a practice saber wouldn’t have stopped her from doing him damage.

“Yield?” she asked.

“For you? Always.”

She pouted a little, but shook her head. 

“That’s not how this is supposed to go,” she pointed out. He shrugged, but the moment was already lost. There was a cloud over Rey’s expression. Kylo frowned as she left the training room, the practice swords forgotten on the floor in her retreat.

 

\--

 

Normally, nighttime is Rey’s favorite time of day. The peace of it. The darkness bathing everything, bringing balance, bringing serenity. Danger lurks in the darkness, she’s always known that, but in the moon’s light she can see a sort of beauty in it, too.

She can hear the door slide open behind her; the quiet footsteps followed by the side of the door closing that tells her they both followed her. She bows her head. Of course they would follow. On another day, it would make her smile - today, though…

The rebellion was no more. She knows that it was necessary, she knows that the peace agreements had brought her here and she should be grateful. But as she looks out over the rooftops of Chandrilla, all Rey can see are the losses. The mentors who died trying to bring peace. The soldiers gone, having been sacrificed on both sides. The senseless bloodshed and carnage. The destruction, the anguish, the- 

“They don’t know,” Ben whispers to her, settling at her side on the ledge. “They won’t understand.” 

“Understanding is hardly their only issue,” Hux retorts, standing behind them, yet unable to stop himself. Rey loves his sharp wit, his cleverness, but today she just sighs and shakes her head and leans, just a tiny bit, into each of them in turn as they watch the city. They lean into her. It soothes her edges, just a little.

“It’s been a year,” she says softly. The sounds of partying will go late into the night, they know; after all, a treaty was signed here. The citizens will always find cause for celebration. Up here, away from the ballrooms and pubs and revels, they can remain anonymous - faceless. 

There’s a long pause as they watch the party below them. 

“Any regrets?” Hux asks softly. If Rey didn’t know any better, she would think that he said nothing at all. Instead, she smiles a little and takes his hand in hers. She reaches and brings Kylo’s to rest in her lap as well. Kylo's other hand reaches toward her face, the tips of his fingers brushing to adjust the crown on her brow, straightening it where it was sliding to one side.

“Not one. Not ever.”

**Author's Note:**

> aaaah I DIDN'T EXECUTE ANY OF MY ACTUAL IDEAS IN THIS but hopefully it gets a peek into what you were wanting <3
> 
> I may end up redoing this. I really love the prompt, and now I've got thoughts of empress Rey running through my head, and i don't know what to do with them all.
> 
> MUCH LOVE AND THANK YOU FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PROMPT


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